From Caracas to Rome: An In-Depth Interview with Superior General Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ

November 3, 2016 — In his first in-depth interview after
being elected superior general of the Society of Jesus, Venezuelan Jesuit Father
Arturo Sosa was quick to point out that he didn’t arrive at the Jesuits’
General Congregation 36 in Rome with an expectation that he would be the man
selected for the job.

But Fr. Sosa had a feeling something was brewing when, after
four days of murmuratio — one-on-one
conversations and information gathering leading up to the election — the
delegates to the Congregation began asking him about his health.

“As I saw the votes on the date of the election, things
became clearer to me, and I had the profound intuition that in this case I have
to trust the judgment of the brothers because I don’t trust my own. If they
elected me, there was a reason, and I would try to respond the best that I
can.”

The first Latin American elected superior general, Fr. Sosa
was born in 1948, “during the very scant period of democracy” in Venezuela in
the first half of the 20th century. Raised in a Catholic family that
valued academics, he was encouraged to “to open up to the world, to study
languages.” His father was a lawyer/economist who took his son on business
trips. They’d arrive in a new city and ride the trolley so young Arturo could
open his eyes to “an ever-greater reality so that I would not remain enclosed
in what I already knew.”

Fr. Sosa giving his first interview as superior general.

He was greatly influenced by the Jesuits at Colegio San
Ignacio in Caracas, which was his second home from the age of 5 to 18. It was
here that he experienced the “great meaning that life has when you give
yourself to others.”

Fr. Arturo Sosa’s
Jesuit Journey

Fr. Sosa says he never had any doubts about a vocation to
the Society of Jesus. “I never even thought of it in terms of priesthood but
just wanted to be a Jesuit.” He recalls wanting to do something to help
his country, and the best place to do that, he thought, was the Society of
Jesus. His vocation was also influenced by Vatican II and the election of
Father Pedro Arrupe as the Jesuits' 28th superior general, “another
breath of fresh air.”

As part of his Jesuit formation, Fr. Sosa, unlike many of
his fellow scholastics who were sent to work in Jesuit schools, was missioned
to Centro Gumilla of Barquisimeto, a social action center that worked primarily
with small farm cooperatives.

Fr. Sosa (second from left) as a Jesuit novice.

For theology studies, he was sent to Rome, and while he
wanted to stay in Latin America because the region was alive with “dynamic
religious and political movements,” he was thankful to have an experience of
living together with Jesuits from 30 different countries. For his final year of
theology studies, he attended the Universidad Central de Venezuela and also
worked in a Jesuit parish in a poor neighborhood of Caracas.

The next two decades were busy ones for the young Jesuit. He
earned a doctorate, taught undergraduate students and wound up ultimately
running the journal for Centro Gumilla, where he tried to shine a spotlight on
Venezuela’s social reality.

Fr. Sosa and GC 36 delegates visited the Gregorian University in Rome.

In 1996, he was appointed provincial, a time he recalls
“when it was clear that there were going to be strong social changes … those
years were very intense.” He quickly learned that the apostolic mission “does
not belong to us” but to the many collaborators who carry it out “at the same
time that they are raising a family in very trying circumstances.” As the rector
of the Universidad de Frontera in Tachira, 600 miles from Caracas near the
border with Colombia, Fr. Sosa worked on an apostolic project that brought
people together on both sides of the border. He also helped organize Jesuit
universities in Latin America into an effective network to fight poverty and
promote youth leadership. Fe y Alegría,
which offers educational opportunities for the poor in 21 countries, was always
a priority, and he calls the growth of the network a “joyful experience.”

At only 34, he was elected as a delegate to the Jesuits’
General Congregation 33, the youngest delegate of that congregation; he also
took part in GC 34 and GC 35. During GC 35, Fr. Sosa was named by his predecessor,
Father Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, to a leadership role, helping to advise on matters
related to the governance of the Society.

Fr. Sosa and GC 36 delegates toured the Sistine Chapel.

And then, two years ago, he was asked to serve as the
Delegate for the Jesuits’ Roman Houses. “Being a student at the Gregorian at
age 28 was very different from coming here at age 60-something and being
responsible for 400 Jesuits who work in the international houses,” he says.

Looking to the Future

“People ask me what I am like, and I always respond that I
am tranquil. I am convinced that there is no Society if it is not ‘of Jesus’ … if
the person of Jesus Christ is not before us, within us, and with us every day,
then the Society has no reason to exist,” says Fr. Sosa.

While he hasn’t speculated about how he might lead the
Society, Fr. Sosa is quick to champion the need for collaboration, saying, “The
Society of Jesus makes no sense without the collaboration of others … in many
places we are still nostalgic about the days when we could do everything.”

Fr. Sosa speaks three languages and is passionate about the need for multiculturalism
because “the true face of God is multicultural, multicolored and multifaceted. …
If the Society succeeds in reflecting this diversity, it will become an
expression of that fascinating face of God.

“My impression is that the Society is very much alive … God
is at work. The key thing is to help, not get in the way.”

Do you want to learn more about vocations to the Society of Jesus? Visit www.jesuitvocations.org for more information.

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